Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Sells 4,500 Shares of Ciena Corporation $CIEN

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP lessened its holdings in Ciena Corporation (NYSE:CIEN) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 110,000 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the quarter. Ciena comprises 1.2% of Ardsley Advisory Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Ardsley Advisory Partners LP owned approximately 0.08% of Ciena worth $8,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CIEN. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in Ciena by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 636 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Ciena by 107.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 718 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Ciena by 15.4% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,147 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Ciena by 82.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,203 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in Ciena by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,455 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 91.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ciena Stock Performance

CIEN stock opened at $214.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.52. Ciena Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.21 and a 1 year high of $219.88. The company has a market cap of $30.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 221.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $183.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.07.

Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $844.44 million for the quarter. Ciena had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 3.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ciena Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CIEN. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ciena from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ciena from $140.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ciena from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ciena from $141.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $185.00 target price on Ciena and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ciena

In related news, SVP Joseph Cumello sold 1,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.14, for a total value of $262,943.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 43,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,143,965.34. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 8,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.12, for a total transaction of $1,185,555.32. Following the sale, the director owned 54,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,653,914.88. This trade represents a 13.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 51,935 shares of company stock worth $8,707,266 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.